Leftover Taco Meat Chili

We love taco night at my house but since there's just the two of us (for now), we always have a ton of left over taco meat. Sometimes I'll make a taco salad for lunch the next day but more often then not, I end up throwing away the leftovers after they've sat in the fridge for 4 or 5 days. It's such a waste! Part of becoming a SAHM means learning to tighten the belt so to speak so I'm trying to be more conscientious of my wasteful habits and make changes.

So with that said, after our delicious turkey tacos last night, I had about a cup and a half or so of meat leftover. I mulled over what to do with it today and I found some great recipes on Pinterest for Mexican stuffed shells and various casseroles but I'm not sure if Pete would be interested in any of that... he can be a picky eater even though he swears he not. I mean, it's been 9 years and I still can't get him to even TASTE grits! But I digress. He does, however, love a good soup or chili and honestly, you can't go wrong with either of those. They're easy peasy, quick and simple... just the way I like it. Now this isn't quite a recipe but a rough guideline. I'm one of those people that just throws things in a pot until it tastes good. I think being able to just toss stuff in adds the beauty of soups and stews... they're nearly infallible and great for people learning how to cook from scratch.

Left Over Taco Meat Chili

Ingredients:

• left over cooked taco meat (what ever you have left will work, it will just be more or less meaty)
• 1 can kidney beans (16 oz - undrained)
• 1 can diced green chiles (4.5 oz- undrained)
• 1 can diced tomatoes (14.5 oz - undrained)
• 1 can tomato sauce (8 oz) (I used about 2/3 of a 15 oz can since that's what I had on hand)
• 2 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/4 tsp dried oregano
• salt and pepper to taste
• cayenne pepper to taste

I'm making mine in a crock pot today which is nice... I can just set it and forget it! I start by tossing ALL of the ingredients into the crock pot and stir it up. I recommend taking a little taste now to get an idea of your flavor... you can add more of your seasonings a pinch at a time or tone things down with a little more sauce or water even. Just wing it... I promise, chili is nearly impossible to screw up. You can also add in things like corn or diced green peppers. Whatever floats your boat!
 

 Once you have it all mixed up the way you like it, set your crock pot to low and carry on with your day. Since the meat is already cooked, you're just heating the chili up at this point so you can eat it as soon as it's warm or you can just let the flavors meld for a couple of hours. Just keep an eye on it and add water if it starts to dry out or anything.

The other option is to cook it on the stove top (which was my preferred method while I was still working the daily grind and wouldn't get home until 8 o'clock at night a lot of times.) I would start with a cold stock pot and mix everything together, the same way as above. Then you just bring the pot to a boil, reduce the heat to medium and let it simmer for 15 or 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Voila... hot chili in about half an hour with full tummies soon to follow.

Once you're ready to chow down, you can serve it a number of ways: plain or with sour cream and shredded cheese, toss it with crumbled up tortilla chips for some crunch, crackers, biscuits, even cream cheese... you name it. Just do your thing and enjoy a nice and hot comforting meal!

-Kim

A Not So Wee Handbag

Last week, I shared this adorable toddler handbag I made using a tutorial from Make It & Love It. I liked it so much, I wanted to make one for myself but adult sized of course.

One thing I've been "needing" all summer is a cute white purse. I'm not big on the huge leather handbags covered in chains and studs that you find at the department stores now days so I decided to finally make that light and airy bag I've been dreaming of since the warmer weather in May rolled around.

For this version, I used two fat quarters of a pretty embroidered fabric for the outer pieces, bands, and straps and then the liner is made from one fat quarter of plain white material.

For the bag pieces, I just cut one of the embroidered and the liner fat quarters in half making each piece roughly 9x21. For the bands, I used the remaining fat quarter of embroidered fabric and cut those four band pieces to 3.5x18. The strap and the button loop were pieced together from the remaining fabric. Easy peasy!

And the cute little button is from my oddball stash of gold buttons. Check these guys out...

My mom found a gallon sized ziploc bag of these retro gold buttons at a thrift store about 7 or 8 years ago. They were only $2.00 so she snatched them up for me. (Thanks Mom!) Since then, I've used them for all sorts of things over the years from switching out buttons on cardigans to hair clips and jewelry. I'm getting down to the bottom of the bag and that just bums me out but maybe I'll come across another amazing button stash one day. I can dream right?

- Kim

99 Problems and the Nursery was One

We had initially planned for Cece's nursery to have this adorable cupcake theme since Pete nicknamed her Cupcake Butt at about 3 months into the pregnancy. We ordered all of our nursery bedding and accessories online... the pattern I had picked was apparently in high demand because the order ended up being canceled since it was out of stock. *sad face*

I lovededed you cupcakes.

Not being one to be deturred, I ordered the set again from a different retailer... which got canceled. Repeat this step 3 more times. That's right! I tried to get the same bedding from FIVE different retailers to no avail. I actually ended up cancelling the 5th one myself... the set was listed "in stock" and would supposedly be sent in 2-3 days. I didn't receive or hear anything for weeks. I tried contacting their customer service by phone and email several times trying to find out where my goods were. When someone FINALLY responded to a very angrily worded email that I'm not proud of, they told me it would be September or October before it would be available and they would send it then. Um, what?! My baby is due August 1st and this was way back in April! No way I was going to wait that long so I gave up on the cupcakes and demanded my money back.

I was so upset at first (I even pregnant lady ugly cried over it) but it actually ended up working out for the best. I stopped in at Babies R Us one afternoon just to look around and stretch my legs a little when I came across the most adorable bedding set by Carter's. I knew it was the one the second I saw it! To make it even better, it was on sale! I immediately added everything they had in stock to my baby registry and took advantage of my "15% off registry completion" coupon. It was kismet!

How stinking cute is this stuff? My little camera phone pictures really don't do it justice... the colors are so vibrant and cheery. I just like to sit in the nursery and enjoy the view while reading a book or nodding off in the rocking chair. It's wonderful but I felt the room was missing something... it needed some art!

I wanted some wall decals to decorate with and I wasn't really finding anything that I felt would match my underwater wonderland aside from the matching Carter's decals. I liked them but they're small and I had no idea where to put them to make the room balanced and not chintzy. Then it hit me... I can make my own wall art using the decals.

I spent two afternoons scrapbooking my little heart out to make these themed pictures. I used the Carter's decals and since they were slightly transparent, I stuck them to white cardstock first and then cut them out so the patterned paper wouldn't show through.

Sorry about the angles... there was so much glare on the glass!

 For the backgrounds, I made waves from 3 different patterns mimicking the design in the comforter. The little seaweeds were made from an old EK Success punch, the letter stickers are from the Dollar Tree, and the frames are all from Michael's. The octopus is 11x14 and the rest are all 8x11. I've hung them up around the room and they look great! (Don't worry... there's nothing above the crib.)

I'm really happy with how everything turned out and I think the experience was just the reminder I needed about being in control and making plans as I venture into motherhood. As my friend who is a life coach says "Sometimes the universe just has different plans than you... it doesn't mean they're necessarily bad. They're just different than what you expected and that's okay. Sometimes we need a little surprise every now and then to freshen things up and keep us on our toes." Wise words from a wise woman!

- Kim

Quiltologie Lesson 4 - The Chelsea Bag

The last time I was in Hancock Fabrics, I picked up this cute Quiltologie Lesson Kit to make a boxed bottom tote bag. It was a great deal at 40% off plus an additional discount from coupons I had on hand. I ended up paying about $6.00 for the whole shebang which isn't bad since it includes all the fabric (sans the interfacing) and makes a pretty good size bag.

 

I didn't time how long it took me to make the bag from start to finish but I'm guessing it was about 2 hours. I cut all my pieces out, ironed, and fused my fleece in about 45 minutes before an appointment and then I assembled the pieces when I got back home. Cutting is the bane of my existence since I don't really have a good place to do it. My "sewing room" is literally one corner of my bedroom so it can get awkward at times.

I love how the bag turned out. It was a little bigger than what I expected since I prefer smaller bags but it works. I tend to travel light and I think the only way I could fill this one up is with a beach towel and some sunscreen, lol.

On a side note, my husband likes to check out my projects when I'm done with them and he really liked this one. He said it brought back memories from his elementary school years in New Jersey and how excited he would get when "the lady from the museum" would come to their class toting a similar bag full of fun little projects and games. It's interesting how something so simple can bring back a fuzzy memory like that... but moving on!

I ended up top stitching the polka dot bow out of necessity... I accidentally stabbed a huge hole through one of the seams while I was turning the ribbon right side out. Oops! At least it still looks nice with a top stitch.

Here's the boxed bottom portion which is the focus of Lesson 4.  I learned about this technique a few months ago so I skipped the "lesson" part and just did them. I looked back through the instructions while writing out this post and it seems like they could be a little confusing if you've never ever squared out a bag before. There is a link included to a handy little video showing how to do the technique two different ways which is always great to know. But seriously, I love the boxed bottom look on bags... they just make things look so much more crisp.

Now the pattern calls for a velcro closure but I didn't have any on hand so I improvised using a Babyville snap button I had leftover from making cloth diapers. It just happened to match perfectly!

Overall, I liked this project a lot... it was very simple, easy to follow for the most part, and I just love the pink and turquoise color combination. There are several other lesson kits by Quiltologie and I think I may try one of the actual quilts. I've always wanted to make one but they just intimidate me for some reason! I will say that if it's as easy as this one, I know I can do it!

- Kim

Five Minute Storage Solutions - Pacifiers

I'm truly blessed to have so many loving and generous people in my life and they have done so much to help us get set up for Cece's arrival. One thing is certain though... we have waaaaaay too much stuff! I have stockpiles all sorts of baby gear, gadgets, toys, and clothes. I haven't really been sure where to put it all or if I will even need half it.

One thing I was confused about was how to store pacifiers. I have about two dozen of them and without really thinking about it, I opened up several packages and sterilized them but then, I didn't know where to put them. Then I had an idea...

I had this little $4 dollar glass jar I bought at Ross a while back for something else... having served its purpose, it was just taking up space and didn't have a home. I grabbed it as a temporary holder until I figured something out but it was just the perfect size and shape to hold the binkies so why not? To spruce it up, I simply added a little bit of ribbon and set it on Cece's dresser next to the seahorse lamp.

Too cute and super efficient! It doesn't take up much space at all and it has a plastic ring inside the jar to seal the contents off from dust and such. I love it!

- Kim

39 Weeks Pregnant!

I just want to share a quick update on the baby front. As of today, I am officially 39 weeks pregnant! I can't believe we finally made it this far... it's been a long road to this point and I can't wait to hold my sweet little girl in my arms. I had my weekly obgyn appointment this afternoon and everything looks great. The doctor said I'm dilated 3 cm and I'm 50% percent effaced (woohoo!) and he expects me to go into labor within the week. She's reeeeeally low now too... I feel like she might fall out at any minute but on the plus side, I can eat and breathe easy without feeling like there's a bowling ball climbing up into my ribcage, lol. So little Cece may become a July baby instead of an August baby but I'll take it... as long as she's ready and healthy, I'm ready!

- Kim

A Wee Handbag

I was looking for a simple afternoon project to sew when I stumbled across this post at Make It & Love It. I promised my almost 2 year old niece that I would make her a purse a little while ago and this is the perfect little bag for her!

I have to say that the instructions and pictures in the tutorial are really well done and were very easy to follow which is important for someone not so experienced in sewing such as myself. Don't get me wrong... I can stitch a straight line and put some stuff together but I'm working on my more advanced skills like zippers and pleats. And that being said, this was the first time I ever sewed a pleat. It was no where near as traumatic as I expected.


One thing I found that helped in sewing this little guy was removing the extension table and sewing around the opening of the bag with the free arm. I never thought I'd need that feature on my sewing machine but I was definitely glad I had it.

 

The fabric I used came from a couple of  fat quarters I picked up at Joanne's a while ago when they were on sale... I'm a sucker for those things. I have way more than I'd like to admit. I mean, you know it's BAD when you hide new ones from your husband when you bring them in the house.

The button is a spare that came with a cardigan from years ago that's long met it's demise. I always save my extra buttons and I have a jar full on my desk... you never know when you'll need that one weird button!

So there's you have it... the first handbag I've made for a little one. I really like how it turned out and I'm contemplating doubling the measurements and making one for myself. I don't think my niece will mind if we're twinsies.

- Kim